The 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease

House of Commons papers 2001-02 939

The foot and mouth disease outbreak in Britain during 2001 lasted for 32 weeks and resulted in over four million animals being slaughtered for disease control purposes and over two million for welfare reasons, at an estimated cost to the public sector of £3 billion and to the private sector of over £5 billion. This report examines the adequacy of contingency planning for such an outbreak and the cost-effectiveness of measures taken to eradicate the disease. Findings include: 1) the nature and scale of the 2001 outbreak was unprecedented, with severe problems encountered in the worst-hit areas; 2) although the Government's contingency plans met EU requirements, they were insufficient to deal with an outbreak on this scale. In the light of Britain's experiences, many countries are revising their contingency plans; and 3) increased demand on compensation payments to farmers and the procurement of services led to increased financial costs of controlling the outbreak. The report contains a number of recommendations for dealing with foot and mouth disease outbreaks in the future, as well as the control of other animal diseases, including: 1) the need for substantial revision of contingency planning; and 2) further research into the effectiveness of eradication measures such as vaccination, culling and disposal of slaughtered animals.